Topic: Approach to language testing: traditional vs communicative

achCharacteristics : Referred to as the pre-scientific stage. No special skill or expertise in testing is required.  Public examinations resulting from the tests sometimes have an oral component at the upper intermediate and advance level.Heavy on literary and cultural bias.Aim of testing is literary understanding of language.Usually consist of essay writing, translation and grammatical analysis.StrengthsEasy to follow using subjective judgmentMaybe use for any level of examinees.Model can be easily modified based on the essentials of the tests. WeaknessSubjective judgment tends to be biasedHeavy literary and cultural bias.II. Structuralist approachCharacteristics and Types of TestsPrimarily concerned with systematic acquisition of a set of habits.Involves structural linguistics which stresses the importance of constructive analysis and the need to identify and measure the learner mastery of the separate elements of the target language. For example: Phonology, vocabulary and grammar.Listening, speaking, reading and writing are done in separate testing. Uses psychometric approach to measurement with its emphasis on reliability and objectivityStrengths Objective. Other forms of tests can be covered in the test in a short time.Can help students find their strengths and weaknesses in every skill they study. Weaknesses Complicated for teachers in questionnaire preparation.  Measures non-integrated skills more than integrated skills.III. Integrative approachA. Characteristics Integrative tests are intended to tap the total communicative abilities of second language learners. Integrative tests don’t attempt separate language skills.It involves functional language but doesn’t use functional language.Characterized by Cloze test and dictation. Beside that , oral interview, translation and essay writing also includedB. Types of integrative approachCloze testC-tests measure the reader’s ability to decode the mutilated messages by making the most acceptable substitutions from all the contextual clues available.In a C-test , students have to complete each gap in the text, which is deleted, by using appropriate word.anything may be tested within a singles cloze text: grammar, collocation, fixed phrases, reading comprehensionE.g. They sat on a bench attached 1 _____ a picnic table. Below them they 2 _____ see the river gurgling between overgrown3 _____. The sky was diamond blue, with 4 _____ white clouds dancing in the freshening 5 _____. They could hear the call of 6 _____ and the buzzing of countless insects. 7_____ were completely alone.Methods of scoring:Exact word method: students get credit for a correct answer if and only if the word they write in any given blank is the exact word deleted from the original text. 	This method is quick and, therefore, very practical, and also highly reliable	However, the exact word scoring method may be too rigid –i.e. it does not reward creativity on the part of the test-taker.2. Acceptable word method:any response that is grammatically correct & makes good sense in the context is given full credit as an acceptable answer.	This method may promote positive washback, since it could encourage learners to use their pragmatic grammars creatively. 	 	it may slow down the scoring process, specially if you have a large # of students.	it could affect scoring reliability if scorers don’t agree about the acceptability of some of the words supplied by the students.Level of text difficultyThe difficulty level of the text is affected By: text length; amount of time allowed to complete the task; learner familiarity with vocabulary & syntax of the passage; Length & complexity of the sentences in the passage.  Learner familiarity with topic & with discourse genre of text (content & formal schemata). Blank interval Cloze testing result is a good measure of overall language proficiencyStrengths: supplying the correct word for a blank does imply an understanding of context & a knowledge of that word and how it functions  These make the cloze technique a very useful technique to use in language tests.Weakness:the score obtained by the student depends on the particular words that have been deleted, rather than on their general knowledge of the Languagesome items are more difficult to supply than othersin some cases, there may be several possible answers2. Dictation Measure students’ skill of listening comprehension .Success on a dictation test requires careful listening, reproduction in writing of what is heard, efficient short-term memo & some expectancy rules to aid short-term memo.Dictation tests, however, are - classroom centered since large-scale administration is quite impractical from a scoring standpoint. The integrated skills involved in dictation:Auditory discrimination.The auditory memory span.Spelling. Recognition of sound segments a familiarity with the grammatical and lexical patterning of the language.Overall textual comprehension. Dictation encourages the students to focus too much on the individual sounds rather than on the meaning of the text as a whole.3. Translation, oral interview and composition writing often required after the learners achieving a high degree of proficiency both in English and .in mother-tongueC. Strengths weakness of integrative testing1. strengthsapproach to meaning and total communicative effects of discourse are very helpful to studentEncourage the learner to use two or more skills simultaneouslyweaknessThis type does not acknowledge the importance of measuring the individual skills based on student’s need such as writing only, speaking only, ect..2. Communicative approach A. What í communicative testing?Communicative language tests are intended to be a measure of how the students are able to use language in real life situationsB. CharacteristicsConcerned primarily with how language is used in communicationEmphasizes on ability to use the languageTesting or assessment in meaningful and realistic context. Focusing on creative aspects of language useGiving due attention to appropriacy, fluency, flexibility and range ( do not just concentrate on accuracy and errors)communicative tests test language skills both integratively and separatelyC. StrengthsIt give opportunity for interaction between the teacher and the students?Evaluate comprehensively students’ language ability.Teacher can get attitude, strengths and weakness of students toward learning 	 Prepares students in real life communication problemsMeasures all language skills (speaking, reading, listening, writing)encourage effectively creative, co-operative, and individual performance D. Weakness: Teacher spend more time on testing Measure subjectivelyDoes not emphasize learning structural grammar and expects examinees mastery of the grammar of a languageIII. ConclusionIn any case, assessment can be done in many ways, and testing is only one of them. When tests have to be used in assessment, they must always follow a set of principles which guarantee assessment validity (real-like communication) and reliability. Varying test formats according to the particular assessment purposes and contexts helps to make testing fairer and more reliable and authentic. Way of judgmentComponents of testsSkills aimed to be testedAim of testingEssay-translation approachSubjectiveEssay-writingTranslationGrammatical analysisWriting, reading, grammar & usage,Oral & aural skills in later stagesLiterary understanding of languageStructuralist approachObjectiveMultiple –choicePhonology, Vocabulary, Grammar and skills separatelyTesting language skills separately in an objective mannerIntegrative approachObjective & SubjectiveCloze testDictationTranslationOral interviewsComposition writingAll skills integrativelyTesting the language skills in context including all language skillsCommunicative approachObjective (quantitative) & subjective (qualitative)Real life tasksAll skills and areas both integratively and separatelyCommunicative skills in contextTraditional testingCommunicative testingTesting and instruction are two separate activities Testing is an integral part of instruction Students are conceived in a uniform way Each learner is seen as a unique person Decisions are based on test scores Tests are one of many sources of data Emphasis on weakness/failure (what students cannot do)Emphasis on strength/progress (what students can do) One-shot test Ongoing assessment Cultural/socio-economic status bias Intercultural approach. More culture-fair Focus on one “right answer” Possibility of several perspectives as in real life Judgment without suggestions or opportunity for improvement Immediate feedback with useful information for improving/guiding learning Teaching is adapted to tests Tests are adapted to teaching Focus on linguistic competence (language components) Focus on communicative competence (language skills) Promotes individual learning and comparison between students (norm-referencing) collaborative learning and compares students to their own performance and the aims Promotes extrinsic motivation for a passing grade Promotes intrinsic motivation for the student’s own sake QuestionsDo you agree with the ideas below? Why? Why not?1. If a test directly follows the characteristics of a single approach to testing, it is considered to be a ‘good’ test. No. A good test must include the characteristics of all approaches based on the aim of testing. It must be a combination of all approaches.2. Contextualized testing is more advantageous than decontextualized tests.Yes. Contextualized tests allow for a more meaningful testing.3. The communicative approach to testing rejects the use of multiple-choice tests in language testing.No. A well-prepared multiple-choice test might be a good way of testing, especially the language usage.References J. & Tang, C. (1997) Assessment by portfolio, constructing learning, and designing teaching. Paper submitted to the Herdsa Conference, Adelaide, July 8-11Thank for your attention!^^